The Times They Are A-Changin…
I figured Jonn, or TSO at least, would have covered this.
Deployed soldier begins sex change
The lede:
She’s a lesbian, and almost everyone in her unit knows it.
She wears her hair cropped short and has a distinctly boyish appearance.
And she’s becoming manlier by the day, now that she’s started taking male hormones.
Call her Keith. That’s the name this 26-year-old specialist, now deployed to Afghanistan, plans to take when she completes a transition begun several months ago when she started giving herself testosterone injections every other week, under the direction of a civilian doctor who specializes in gender changes.
He/she is giving interviews except that:
Keith declined to be identified by her real name because under military policy, troops diagnosed with “gender identity disorder” are deemed medically unfit for service and face administrative separation.
Now I’m 40+ years separated from my military service and I KNOW things have changed, but this strikes me as a less than positive development .
We have someone knowingly breaking regulations and doing it in a very public way. Somehow a righteous PC armor is magically protecting this soldier it seems.
And this is NO LONGER the person who enlisted. Even among males testosterone therapy has some serious psychological side effects. I can’t imagine the changes he/she is going through, and in a war zone to boot.
I could rant on about stuff like unit cohesion and/or morale but I’ll just ask that someone here PLEASE explain how this is a good thing!
Category: Geezer Alert!
I’ve got nothing.
I don’t understand this stuff. According to the linked article, the lesbian is legally married to another lesbian. Now, L1 is changing gender and says that L2 will be happy with the change. So, L1 becomes a male, leaving L2 legally married to a male, rendering their lesbian marriage a traditional one between a man and a woman? My head hurts and I think I’m hyperventilating.
With the repeal of DADT, the whole unit knowing that she is a lesbian is no big deal. That being said, even if she is not letting her unit know what she is doing it is pretty hard not to notice the drastic changes in her physical apperance. The CoC needs to be investigated for dereliction of duty.
But,… wha,…. umm…. CoC doesnt notice he/she/it giving itself testosterone injections every other week? I call BS!
@ 2 Air Cav … Wrong. Now I will be as polite as I can about this. As you all know I a civilized citizen of the world.
I am not a doctor, but I can say this with 100% certainty … there is no way you can take a woman and completely without error or difference make her a man. Therefore, it is the opinion of this panel (me, myself, and I) that I decree this case as nothing more than a “chick with a d*ck.”
Notice: The aforementioned satire was not intended to offend any person or group of persons. Those with a penis or those who really want a penis, those individuals who did not have the proper parental bonding experiences, or strong mother and father figures in their lives, and those who are playing the system (exploiting DADT) for political and social agenda purposes.
# 5 was me …. but you probably knew that anyway!
Arrrrrrrrggggghhhh! This just makes my head hurt.
And, yeah, Zero, I am completely with you on this. Guess that puts me squarely into the “if it does not directly relate to mission effectiveness it has no business in the military” category.
At least this is (presumably) being paid for with private instead of public dollars?
Army as social experiment is more important than Army as war fighter.
What happens during a Whiz Quiz when she starts peeing out more testosterone than Lance Armstrong? No one is going to notice?
Hey diversity makes us stronger. Self medicating with a banned substance is taking a stand for all of us. What kind of military would we have if you could not do what you wanted. This fine soldier is exercising her constitutional rights, remember we are to empower our troops to think and act “Out of the Box”
Sir…ma’am….it?
I was under the impression that personnel on active duty were required to at a minimum report civilian medical care received to military medical authorities, and might be required to get approval for continuing elective treatment provided by civilian providers. But medical admin wasn’t my career field, so I could be wrong. And that could have changed in the last few years anyway.
Medical folks here: thoughts?
Personally I don’t think the individual should be allowed to stay in the military. It’s even in the article, those with gender identity disorder are no fit for duty. Times like this I wish I was closer to retiring from the military.
“Army as social experiment is more important than Army as war fighter”.
This-the left only wants to prove that human nature is infinitely plastic so that they can manipulate society to bring about their imagined earthly paradise. If humans are bound by innate forces then human nature is not completely malleable and the left cannot manipulate the social order to bring about their desired end. It doesn’t matter how many times this has failed and brought about disaster and chaos, lefties have to keep trying. Otherwise their whole worldview is revealed as completely bankrupt.
I am completely confused.
If Keith wanted to be a man, why didn’t (pick a sex) take care of that BEFORE enlisting?
Master chief, I have been folded, spindled, stapled and mutilated by this, despite your disclaimer.
Wait! I have it: it’s Hallowe’en!
Staring October 29 this year, there will be a full moon that will last until October 31.
Mon. Oct. 29, 2012 Full Moon (19:51 UT) (Sky & Telescope alamanac)
That explains EVERYTHING!!!!!
I’m more curious to know which PT scale she’s being scored on.
Because seriously, if twice a year I just have to wear a dress and put in breast forms to score a 300 on my PT test I’ll do it. That’s easier than going to the gym…
And do I really need a disclaimer here?
@ Ex-PH2 … I am here to help by putting the absurd in to a more enjoyable format for perusal and processing.
OK … I am curious too. What if she gets pregnant during this process? And she has a girl! That will be one hairy bundle of joy! Like I said … I am no doctor!
Is there a point in this process where she has enough testosterone to impregnate herself?
I wonder which jokes s/he will take offense to??
Whew….this is ok. You had me worried.
I thought she had decided to become a born-again Christian or something crazy like that.
If “Keith” atcually undegrous a sxe-0- look, my keyboard is even rejecting this idea!
Try again and quit laughing.
If “Keith” actually does undergo a sex change operation, then “Keith” can no longer get pregnant, nor get anyone pregnant, because will actually have to grow a functioning pair.
I’m still trying to sort this out. Two lesbians are married to each other. One of them is transferring gender to becoming a man. S/he/it will then be a straight man married to a lesbian. So, who will be having sex with whom in that pair?
This is ridiculous.
Not to dampen the fun here, but what about unit safety? As a medical officer, (and as a married man, natch!) I can tell you that taking *anything* that alters your hormone levels can affect your mood, affect and judgement. Add in the fact that since it’s banned to take on active duty, he’s not taking it with close supervision of an endocrinologist, a gender identity counselor or any type of medical supervision whatsoever. Skyping with the doc just doesn’t cut it.
Altered judgement and severe and erratic mood swings can adversely affect his performance and his interactions with his peers, leading to a decreased level of unit readiness. This increases the risk to the remainder of the unit. Not acceptable. The unit commander needs to have a talk with him, and cut him orders to go home to get his personal business sorted out.
If any of you are wondering about the references to ‘him’, in the mental health community, you refer to a person with gender identify issues as the gender with which they most identify/prefer to be identified as. This doesn’t necessarily make it so physiologically, but it helps in their development of a stable identity.
Oh Jeebus. I want to caveat my post by saying I’m a transperson. I completely disapprove of what is being done, and I know the vast majority of LGBT servicemembers would agree (there are a lot more of us than anyone realizes.) I also agree with the other posters asking why this merited a Military Times article. Even within this topic there are many other LGBT issues that warrant more attention than this. I knew I wanted to transition several years before my EAS, but I did not and would not consider starting this before I got out. I also felt it would be inappropriate to make my transgendered status known to anyone in the military except my closest friends. I didn’t think it would be much of an issue with most of my unit (and when I came out after my EAS the news was largely well received), but I felt it woul d be unprofessional to make this known while on active duty. Frustrating? Yes. But that gave neither I nor Keith the right to introduce unnecessary and potentially distracting information within the shop. Going behind medical’s back is lying, plain and simple. The questionable ethics of that scenario alone aside, it is beyond irresponsible to do this in a combat zone. Hormone replacement therapy is by and large well tolerated, but these are still obviously significant treatments that require lifelong monitoring from the prescribing physician. There’s also the issue of something happening to the mail, and the possibility of doses being missed. Going cold turkey on any medication is bad, and this is no exception. Providing he was being honest about the situation then the physician responsible is likely committing malpractice, and should be held accountable by their state medical board. Keith is deluding himself to think that the unit won’t notice these changes (boyishness is one thing, going through what amounts to a second puberty is a much different story), and order a steroid test. Not if, but when this happens the choice of how many future reenlistments there will be is going to be answered… Read more »
Thank you, Ann, for making the mature decision about your service and balancing what was best for you with your obligations. That’s the sort of maturity that most of us expect from those who serve us all. Your story should be the example that others follow.
@25. Agreed. Good post. Thanks for sharing.
NP, it was something I’d planned to leave off TAH since I’d never anticipated this scenario. Sometimes it takes a person of the same demographic to show non-veterans that the disapproval isn’t about bigotry. I’m anticipating the future Military Times blurb featuring Keith being caught and kicked out for illicit drug use once the unit notices the voice cracking and beard growth.